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Heathens ready to head home

Ambitious plans by the club to once again ride in the borough have taken an important step forwards this week.

They have taken Tony Mole on board to take responsibility for their new track project.

Mole, the British Speedway President, has an unequalled record in bringing the sport back to areas of the country which have been starved of speedway for years.

Although the Heathens are thriving at their shared Wolverhampton base, the management of the club remain determined to take them to a new home.

Club spokesman Gary Patchett said: “Tony will need no introduction to our supporters after all but bringing the club to a new home in Colley Gate nearly ten years ago and his success in bringing defunct clubs back to the sport is unparalleled.

“Tony’s brief will be to advise on any site possibilities but with a specific focus on the potential site we have had on the radar for some time.”

Mole was the man responsible for taking the sport back to Workington in 1999 and Birmingham in 2007. He has also rescued struggling clubs down the years like Hull, Oxford and Stoke.

Mole remains a regular visitor to Cradley meetings at Monmore Green and was on the terraces at Dudley Wood in his younger days.

The club are still remaining tight-lipped about the identity of the one site they have been working on but it is understood a change of ownership has delayed talks. Mole is now looking to speed up the process.

Cradley chairman Nigel Pearson said: “What Tony Mole has achieved on projects like this is wonderful and I feel this is a great appointment for the club.

“We have hit a brick wall with one particular project we were presented with but quite clearly Tony feels there is something to work on there and is now going to put his efforts into it on behalf of Cradley Heath. I’m delighted.”

CRADLEY will now push ahead with plans for the re-staging of their double header with Scunthorpe and Mildenhall after this week's fixture fell victim to the weather.

The contests will now take place on Tuesday, June 24.

Club bosses have already made arrangements for early entry to the stadium for those fans wanting to watch England’s World Cup game on the same day which kicks off at 5pm. It will be shown in the Monmore bar.

Club chairman Nigel Pearson said: “There are still a couple of issues which need to slot into place before we can confirm this, but it’s looking like it will happen.

“As a massive sports fan myself, I love the idea of watching the football and then two speedway meetings immediately afterwards. I anticipate the England game to end at 7pm and then our double header can start at 7.15.”

The Heathens are at Plymouth on Saturday, June 14 (1.15pm) in National League action and their next home meeting is on Tuesday, June 17 against rivals Stoke.

Steve Worrall and Max Clegg will represent the club at the NL Pairs at Mildenhall on Sunday, June 15 (3.30pm). Paul Starke is unavailable thanks to a re-arranged Premier League fixture.

Cradley were handed a major boost ahead of the upcoming busy racing schedule.

Tom Perry is now ready for his comeback after making it through a fitness test four weeks after suffering a broken collarbone.

Perry is desperate to be back racing regularly following his injury.

He said: “I had a spin at the weekend and, to be honest, I came off after about 12 laps and landed on the shoulder.

“But that was down to the track and I had no problem with the collarbone. I’ve got good movement and I’m ready to give it a go.

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